


thunder was never this frightening

by MigrantMayhem



Series: healing takes time, like seeds growing to flowers [6]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Sensory Overload
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:15:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29391105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MigrantMayhem/pseuds/MigrantMayhem
Summary: Willow struggled in the city because of all the constant noise, the constant sights, the constant distractions. While she had been functioning so much better in Stardew Valley, she had also lost all those callouses.---Willow struggles with sensory overload and a truckload of anxiety at the Stardew Valley Fair, but thankfully Sebastian recognizes her struggle before it gets too bad.
Relationships: Abigail & Female Player (Stardew Valley), Abigail & Sam & Sebastian (Stardew Valley), Sam & Female Player (Stardew Valley), Sebastian/Female Player (Stardew Valley)
Series: healing takes time, like seeds growing to flowers [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2154150
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	thunder was never this frightening

**Author's Note:**

> fall 16, year 1

Willow crossed her arms tightly against her chest, fingers squeezing until her knuckles turned white. There was entirely too much noise-- too many people yelling, talking, the music was too loud-- it sent sparks of irritation over her shoulders. She did everything in her power not to cover her ears-- she didn’t realize there would be  _ this  _ many people at the fair, the town itself had maybe 30 people, so to see the vast numbers of tourists show up took her by surprise. It had been fine earlier, but now-- everyone was so much louder, or maybe more people had shown up, or maybe the DJ had fucked with the music volume, shit, she didn’t know, but it felt  _ wrong _ on her skin. Abby had caught her at a better moment, and she was having so much fun with the fair games, she didn’t want to bother her. Well, that, and maybe she didn’t want to talk to Abby yet. They had daintily skirted around their last impromptu meeting, with her in Sebastian’s bed, before they parted ways. Abby said they needed to talk about it, but it could wait. “Enjoy the fair, Wil!”

Fuck, she felt like she wanted to die.

She didn’t know where Sam was. She just really wanted to talk to him, right now. But she probably wouldn’t be able to find Sam without Seb, and she wasn’t sure she could face him yet, either.

She couldn’t understand why this whole “Seb and Abby are fuckbuddies” thing was getting under her skin so much-- she’s had tons of friends who fucked around on the side, hell,  _ she’s  _ done that kinda thing before. Maybe it caught her off-guard because of how small this town was, it was hard to pull off those kinds of arrangements without somebody hearing about it. But it made her heart ache-- she felt like she was betrayed at her weakest point. All she wanted to do was sit in Seb’s room and shut the world out for a while, and yeah, Sam did that pretty well, too, but with Seb it was…  _ different _ .

She had thought about him a little too long, it seemed. She started craving a cigarette.

A kid screamed somewhere in the fair, and she flinched. She smiled weakly to some tourists who looked her way. She was drawing attention now, and her anxiety skyrocketed. What the hell would they say about Pelican Town if their new farmer was as skittish as a feral cat? Besides, she needed to sell to these people if she was going to get enough money to survive independently through the winter. Sam had told her she was welcome to sit in on meals with him and his family, but she couldn’t bring herself to accept charity like that. Jodi was already struggling to keep up with her two boys, she didn’t need to add to the trouble. 

Another squeal startled her and she dug her nails through the knit of her sweater. She felt tears prick in the corners of her eyes and she cursed herself mentally--  _ you’re  _ not  _ crying at the fair, grow the fuck up, it’s just a little loud. _

“Hey, Willow!” A shout rung through the air and she flinched before turning, barely registering her own name. It was Sebastian, standing with Sam, who glanced over. Willow wiped her eyes quickly with her sleeve, fighting waves of unrecognizable emotion.

“Hey, come hang out for a little bit,” He extended a hand out towards her, and he looked so calm, so soft, so…  _ perfect _ . Her heart did flips and she hated the way her face heated up at such a small gesture. She took his hand and he effortlessly pulled her into their little bubble, firm arm snaking around her back, holding her flush against him, protective, defensive. A sob almost rose out of her throat in sheer relief. Everything seemed to get so quiet all of a sudden. Why did everything get so quiet?

“Keep talking, Sam. You were at ‘Bram Scott plagiarized his lyrics from Catf!sh…’”

“Are you sure?” Sam asked, glancing tentatively to Willow. She simply nodded, not trusting her voice to speak.

Sam glanced between her and Seb one more time, before his eyes widened. He nodded a few times. “...Okay. Sure, sure thing. Yeah… So, like I was saying, Bram Scott’s most popular song is literally pieces of all of Catf!sh’s most underrated album--”

Willow blinked oddly. Sam had looked suspiciously like he had put two and two together-- a skill he had never really been known for but when it happened, you  _ knew _ . She shifted a little bit in Seb’s grip, which made his hand fall to her hip and offer a reassuring squeeze. She tried everything in her power not to melt.

After a minute of learning new Catf!sh trivia, Seb leaned down just enough to whisper, his lips practically brushing the top of her head. “Feeling better?”

She swallowed, nodding.

“Was it too loud?”

She looked down, nodding again.

“Hey, that’s okay. It’s always been a little too loud for me, too. You’re welcome to hang out.”

She couldn’t help but feel a soft smile grace her features. She turned her head in towards him and whispered, despite the fact that he stood a little less than a foot over her head, he still heard her.

“Thanks, Seb. It means a lot.”

She glanced up to see a faint smile touch his lips before he cleared his throat, shuffling, resuming his rather neutral-bordering-on-hostile demeanor.

His arm didn’t leave her side.


End file.
